Reflective journal task 4

This photograph creates a frame within a frame with the artist inside but picturing the outside through the window. The window seems to be very dirty therefore creating a dull, dusty tone for the photograph giving the impression its very old. The landscape pictured is urban with the presence of buildings, cars and people. I like the composition of this image because it is not too busy with the road creating blank space before meeting the car and then the building. The image may be more interesting if the lighting allowed for a different range of colours to be seen, as it provides more for the viewer rather than just one monotone shade.

This image picture a model lying on a compost bag while wearing floral clothes, suggesting the photographer wanted to erase the boundaries and bring the outside in. the colour of the suit is almost Identical to the floor which emphasises the floral design and its relation to the compost. The lighting in the image is quite dim which contrasts with the bright blue of the compost and flowers on the shirt which again emphasises the importance of these elements. while the angle creates leading lines from the legs to face of the model forcing the viewer to look at everything in the image as it almost fills the frame.

Inside and outside can mean many different things the main being in a building and outside in the landscape, your own private space compared with a public. The inside can be seen as concrete while the outside is vast with endless possibilities however contrary to belief inside can also seem vast with details, this can be seen in Heidi Specker Travertin’s images of walls where the endless details contrast with the concrete inside. Walter Benjamin states the living room is like a box in the theatre of the world it is a domestic fantasy in comparison the outside/ place of work which is reality. However inside and outside can also refer to social groups, this is shown in Robert frank’s the Americas where he pictures the social segregation between black and white people on a bus making certain people feel like outsiders in the world. Similarly, migrants are also linked to the idea of inside and out where not all are let into a country and therefore left outside. Clothes can also divide between inside and out in terms of social groups where each wear different fashion choices as well as being a bridge between public/ people and your private body. Moreover doors and windows also bridge the inside and out, doors allow for hesitation and act as a threshold, but can be both a connector as they can be opened and allow you into the outside world or a disconnector as they can be shut and looked and stop you from entering the outside therefore allowing for both inclusion and exclusion.

Reflective journal task 3

This image shows us how the street forces people to be in a close environment, but the angle of the camera suggests that these passengers are about eyes not ears and so will remain not talking to one another even though they are touching. Another meaning behind this image could be the contrast between classes and job titles with the woman on the left seemingly in a more important job role while the man on the right not so much however the street as brought them together in this close proximity which would have otherwise never had occurred.

This image rebels against the barrier between the road and the pavement, sometimes the pavement is seen as too safe and so the photographer wants to break away from being safe. It contrasts to the normal view of busy city life as the masses are usually seen but instead we have a woman walking against the tide elegantly and freely. In the background of the image you are able to see different stages of history with carriages and cars as well as showing different speeds of life from car to walking speed.

Here we see a busy street but not on an average day instead we have a street that is home to a protest, but again shows a different angle with the emotions of the young children being considered, which is very much overlooked during protests. You see the sadness on the boy’s face perhaps overwhelmed and it is unlikely he understands the situation he is living in.

This Bruce Gilden image shows the other side of the street where it is not a place of display and shopping but instead ridden with crime. This style is very direct and intimate. The image also shows 3 very different emotions and expressions to the situation, the main focus being the scared as well as the angry and followed by the happy in the background. This shows how the streets are lined with all very different people both within groups of people and between.

The street is a place where all walks of life can share their culture and fashion, while people don’t generally communicate with others in the street everyone certainly look and judge the people that work past. It is a stage for contemporary life to be shown and a theatre for street music and other performers wishing to show their talents. It is also a place for public display within shop windows, signs, newspapers etc. but in a sharp contrast it can be place of danger and destruction as it often houses crime, fights and protests. The street removes you from your home and car and allows you to explore the outside world however you can still be hidden with high rise office blocks or just houses they still isolate you from our natural world.

Photographer research- Wolfgang Tillmans

Tillmans is a turner prize award winning German photographer born 1968 in Remscheid. In the 90’s he came to study in Bournemouth at the arts university and after that lived and worked in London. Tillmans was initially known for his casual snapshot-like portraits of friends and other youths nearby and became known as the documentarian of his generation especially in regard to the LGBTQ community. His portraits, still life’s, aerial shots, landscapes etc. were created for aesthetic and political interests, especially related to homosexuality. Tillmans himself says “I take pictures, in order to see the world.” In relation to the street Tillmans pictured on the train in a series called circle line, he showed how close people are forced to be when walking the streets and travelling but still we don’t communicate we just look with our eyes not ears. The circle line series also poses the question of where does the street end as the train is also a mode of transport similar to cars and buses which are used on streets, so does a train still the street? And does the street stop as soon as you step inside a series of walls?

Reflective journal task 2

Movement, freedom, happy

picturesque, reflections, pastoral, rural

bold, powerful, mysterious, fantasy

elegant, floral, beautiful, reflective

wilderness, natural, nude

construction, dirt, boring

border, space, modern vs natural

elegant, powerful, strong personality, edgeway

desert, various viewpoints, travel

bird like, sinister, plain

leading lines, normal, contrasting shapes

boring, neutral, ugly

eerie, mysterious, reflections

sublime, dangerous, contrast

These images both show a different era of landscape photography, the right being the original style of the genre with picturesque pastoral scenes while the left shows a much more neutral scene in the foreground of the image while in the background a much more sublime mountain.
The right image shows us nature more than culture as well as outside our usual experience in comparison to the left where the presence of homes and cars shows it is much closer to our livelihoods and shows the edgeway between urban and rural. The left image as a style came into the genre after the new topographic expedition where buildings and the interspace were introduced. The colours within the right image shows me it is a very old photo which confirms why the image pictures the stereotypical pastoral landscape we all imagine. Although the left image is also pictured in black and white I am aware it is a much newer image as it has moved  away from the conformant of a landscape photograph, the background still holds the natural landscape however its has a more sublime feel to it as it has excited the idea of pain of the possible  danger the mountains hold. This is a huge comparison to the right image where there is nothing but picturesque views that bring pleasure to the viewer.

Reflective journal task 1

Unusual, abstract, dull

monotone, collage, cars

regal, constructed, monotone

This image represents how genres can be blurred and shifted by having documentary and a constructed fashion photograph within the same image. With the image being very busy and colourful it may suggest this photograph’s main purpose is not to sell the garments and there may be a further iconological meaning. There is not only contrast in genre but also in location as it is an abstract setting for a constructed fashion image, and in colours where the females to the left are wearing much darker clothes which in turn draws the audience to the more colourful garments to the right. The photograph has been taken as an environmental portrait which allows the audience to see the rest of the environment around the models which has added to the unusual abstract feel to the image. What I also find interesting about the image is the way the models are positioned; the different levels create depth as well as the 3 back models seemingly pointing to the right of the image while the final model pointing to the left which creates balance. This positioning should also divert the audience to a particular direction of the image with the viewer following the majority to the right corner but as the more interesting aspects of the image are to the left it seems odd the photographer would do this.

“a photograph tells us nothing about the inner workings” – Bertolt Brecht

The quote has made me realise a single photograph cannot show all the emotions and information etc about an experience and therefore I have realised a series of images or a collage would allow me to convey all of my ideas and meanings to the viewer. And therefore a single photograph can provide false information when a photograph should be the one reliable copy of reality as it provides proof for so many institutions around the world.